Breathing control for swimming

[emttim]

So basically, I'm playing catchup as far as swimming goes because I never fully learned how to swim...and I can tread water just fine now, can do that for at least 1 min straight (timed) and I'm improving on how long I can do that without tiring out....can do survival float just fine, but I can't get my *(^$#&@#ing breathing control down for swimming!!

It's driving me insane. I know that I can just do fins, mask and snorkel for 300 meters for the swim test, but it'd just plain be easier (and probably faster) if I just swam for 200 meters. I can do the breast stroke, I'm not too great at it because I'm still angling my body diagonally so I probably use more effort than I need to in order to rise above the water for air, but I at least have no problem breathing out through my nose underwater for that and breathing in above water.

Freestyle is another matter entirely. I can do the kicks, the arm movements, and breath underwater through my nose, but it falls apart as soon as I try to tilt my head to the side to grab some air...seems as if I always get water in my mouth and end up swallowing the water instead of air. Are there any tips, tricks, etc. to get around this? It's driving me crazy...I'd prefer to get good enough at swimming to do it for cardio because my legs do not like running (get shin splints every time after awhile), but without getting breathing down to the point where I can at least go 10 meters without swallowing a crapload of water, I'm not seeing how that's going to happen.

 

[Blackwood]

Practice... not much else to say. Once you get your timing down, you should be okay.

Alternately, try backstroke (face never in the water).

 

[MoxisPilot]

Kudos to you for putting in the effort!

Like Blackwood said, just practice. Don't get discouraged. You're doing fine.

 

[ronbeau]

So basically, I'm playing catchup as far as swimming goes because I never fully learned how to swim...and I can tread water just fine now, can do that for at least 1 min straight (timed) and I'm improving on how long I can do that without tiring out....can do survival float just fine, but I can't get my *(^$#&@#ing breathing control down for swimming!!

It's driving me insane. I know that I can just do fins, mask and snorkel for 300 meters for the swim test, but it'd just plain be easier (and probably faster) if I just swam for 200 meters. I can do the breast stroke, I'm not too great at it because I'm still angling my body diagonally so I probably use more effort than I need to in order to rise above the water for air, but I at least have no problem breathing out through my nose underwater for that and breathing in above water.

Freestyle is another matter entirely. I can do the kicks, the arm movements, and breath underwater through my nose, but it falls apart as soon as I try to tilt my head to the side to grab some air...seems as if I always get water in my mouth and end up swallowing the water instead of air. Are there any tips, tricks, etc. to get around this? It's driving me crazy...I'd prefer to get good enough at swimming to do it for cardio because my legs do not like running (get shin splints every time after awhile), but without getting breathing down to the point where I can at least go 10 meters without swallowing a crapload of water, I'm not seeing how that's going to happen.

Have you considered doing the side stroke for the scuba swim test? It worked for my wife when she did her swim test.

 

[fisherdvm]

I think part of it is practice, and part stamina. Last December, I put my mind to it that I was going to work on my swimming. I could barely do 20 yards with the freestyle. I started doing laps with my snorkel and swimming the stroke. I probably swam with snorkel for about 2 weeks, doing about 1/4 mile, then worked up to 1/2 mile. No one seems to care in the pool whether I used a snorkel or not. I guess it would be embarassing if you were the macho type. Then I worked on my breathing with the freestyle. About 2 months, I can swim the freestyle for about 200 yards, then rapidly to 400, and it didn't take much to get beyond it. I swim 3/4 miles to 1 mile several times a week, mostly freestyle and some breast strokes.

If an old dog like me can learn to swim, anybody can. I think it just take determination and work. Just don't over do it at first, I got some sore shoulder when I was swimming daily. Now it is just every other day, alternated with running.

 

[laurelgsc]

I picked up a great book at Borders called swimming for fitness that has some great freestyle stroke tips in it. I picked it up because I wanted to improve my freestyle. I can now breath on both sides. The has a lot of exercieses that help you to improve your overall technique. Alternately have you thought about taking a stroke clinic at your local pool? I never had a problem swimming long distances I just wasn't very fast. Now I can keep up with the swim team kids and can breath on both sides, something I wanted to teach myself for a long time. My main movtivation was to improve so I could start my divemaster course. Good luck and have fun!

 

[BidAndDive.com]

Breathing control is really one of the harder things about scuba or any water sport. It's really a science. You'll get it in time...

 

[emttim]

Thanks guys, I'll try to figure out the freestyle but have my swim instructor show me the backstroke so I can try that out too. I'm not sure how much I'll be working on the freestyle next time since he suggested I bring in my mask, snorkel and fins after I mentioned its either 200 yards w/o gear or 300 yards w/mask, snorkel and fins, so I'm going to go ahead and do that and see where I stand doing that...I'm sure that'll be a cakewalk, but if anything, I'm anxious to see how well those fins work anyway.

 

[unlikelyfish]

You can also use a frog-kick style backstroke. It has a proper name but I can't remember it. It uses way less energy.

If you're getting water in your mouth when breathing I suspect that you're tilting your head down too much. Practice floating face down in the water and turning your head to the side without twisting up too much.

 

[learn2turn]

You can also use a frog-kick style backstroke. It has a proper name but I can't remember it. It uses way less energy.

It's called the "elementary backstroke". You lie on your back and do a frog kick while also doing a motion with your arms that is very akin to a frog kick. Move your arms up and out to the side simultaneously and then push both hands toward your feet while you kick. I find it to be about the least stressful stroke and very relaxing for just tooling around. I always referred to it colloquially as the "squid" stroke because you pulse through the water like a squid; all limbs draw back and then push at once to propel you forward.

Video--

http://www.usma.edu/dpe/courses/Swimming/ElemBack.mov